Women in Film and Television Ireland (WFT.I) in collaboration with the U.S Embassy of Ireland, present their October event INNOVATORS with a particular emphasis on creative, business and technological innovations in an ever-changing media landscape.

This exciting event includes the European Premiere of GD-IQ, a tool that employs video- and audio-recognition technology, along with algorithms, to identify gender, speaking time and additional details about characters presented in films, television shows and other media. For the first time this tool will be used to analyse an Irish film and results will be presented at the event.

The software, called the Geena Davis Inclusion Quotient (or GD-IQ), will speed up and automate the painstaking data-collection process that researchers use to study representation, a key initiative in recent years as the entertainment industry has begun to focus on equity onscreen.

Premiering the software is Madeline Di Nonno, the Chief Executive Officer of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the only research based non-profit working with the entertainment and media community to improve gender diversity in children’s entertainment through research based programs.

“The GD-IQ research is a tool to help inspire change,” said Di Nonno, “It’s not meant to criticize; it’s meant to have the facts so that content creators can be aware and learn from it.”

Director Dearbhla Walsh will speak to the different directing and storytelling approaches she takes when it comes to engaging audiences for drama, to those who are watching in a traditional episodic TV format, to those who want to binge watch online.

Jennie Stacey will speak to Brown Bag’s innovations in storytelling, featuring their award winning work on titles including Doc McStuffins, Anya, Octonauts, Noddy in Toyland and more, and also in relation to the use of technology in animation, including the rabbit-rig used for the BBC CBeebies series Peter Rabbit.

The event will include presentations, panel discussions and Q&As. Refreshments will be provided. It is free to WIFT members; €10 for non-members. Booking at eventbrite.ie

Women in Film and Television Ireland (WFT.I) is a voluntary organisation established in 2014. It is a branch of Women in Film and Television International, a voluntary foundation promoting greater representation of women on screen and behind the camera, with a membership of over thirteen thousand professionals worldwide. The Irish branch is ran by film and TV professionals of international standing. Our committee members represent the creative, business and technical divisions of the Irish audiovisual sector. www.wft.ie

Pictured from left to right: Warner Bros. Pictures, Ireland Head of Distribution Pat Boylan, MA in Screenwriting student Ciaran Dooley and Creative Director of The National Film School (NFS) at IADT, Donald Taylor Black. Photo: Brian McEvoy.

Warner Bros. Ireland has awarded a scholarship to Ciarán Dooley, an MA Screenwriting student at The National Film School at Dublin’s Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), it was announced today by Josh Berger, President & Managing Director, Warner Bros. UK, Ireland & Spain.

Now in its second year, the scholarship will, over the course of the year, provide Ciarán with postgraduate funding support and the experience of a short paid placement at Warner Bros. Ireland’s Dublin offices, as well as access to screenings and mentoring support from Warner Bros. executives in the country.

“The Warner Bros. Creative Talent scholarship at The National Film School at IADT is part of our continued commitment to finding, funding and supporting talented people from all backgrounds. Last year’s scholar, Daniel Kelly, made the most of every opportunity and experience provided to him and we are confident that with this funding and support, Ciarán will do just the same. We wish him all the very best as he lays the foundations for his future career in the industry.”

Donald Taylor Black, Creative Director of The National Film School (NFS) at IADT, said, “We’re absolutely delighted that Warner Bros. has renewed its commitment to the NFS in general and our MA Screenwriting programme in particular. Ciarán is one of a group of extremely talented students here at IADT and we’re confident that he will take this opportunity to progress a very promising career”.

The Irish scholarship is an extension of Warner Bros. Creative Talent, a key part of Warner Bros. long-term investment in UK creative industry skills and training. Announced in 2013, Warner Bros. Creative Talent’s multi-layered investment encompasses scholarships at some of the UK’s most respected higher education institutions; apprenticeships with roles ranging from set-lighting to post-production; trainee positions on every Warner Bros.’ UK film production; year-long training course places for young people at inclusive theatre company, Chickenshed; work experience placements for schools local to Warner Bros.’ London HQ; and work placements on the West End musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with the most talented of the students receiving an additional three month placement.

Warner Bros. has a storied film-making history in Ireland, most notably the 1996 production of Michael Collins, which became the country’s top-grossing film on release and still remains the highest grossing Irish film of all time. The film’s Academy Award-winning director, Neil Jordan, is also behind other Warner Bros. hits including Interview with a Vampire and award-winning film The Butcher Boy.

Representatives of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and the Hungarian Motion Picture Public Foundation are to sign a co–production agreement in Berlin on Sunday February 8 with the aim to foster co–productions between the two territories.

The deal includes a reciprocal feature whereby producers from both countries will take turns acting as majority co–producers.

This agreement would work on the basis that when a co–production in which the majority of the budget comes from the Irish side occurs, this will be followed by a co–production in which the equivalent percentage comes from the Hungarian side.